RIVER BASIN SURVEYS — F. H. H. ROBERTS 367 



The University of Montana also excavated in the Garrison Reservoir. 

 The University of Wyoming dug sites in both the Boysen and Key- 

 hole Reservoirs in that State. The Nebraska Historical Society car- 

 ried on investigations in the Medicine Creek and Swanson Lake 

 reservoir areas in Nebraska and in the Fort Randall Reservoir in 

 South Dakota. The Laboratory of Anthropology at the University 

 of Nebraska excavated a large village at the Harlan County Reservoir 

 in southern Nebraska. The University of Kansas carried on investi- 

 gations in the Kanopolis Reservoir in Kansas and in the Fort Randall 

 Reservoir in South Dakota (sec Champe, 1949; Hurt, 1951; Meleen, 

 1949). 



At the Whitney Reservoir on the Brazos River in Texas a historic 

 Indian village known as the Stansbury site yielded interesting data on 

 mid-eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Indian life in that 

 region. House patterns with compact floor, post holes, central fire 

 hearth, and bell-shaped cache pits were found. Material from it in- 

 cludes trade items of French, English, and American origin. At 

 another location in Texas in the Lavon Reservoir area on the East 

 Fork of the Trinity River digging was done in the remains of a vil- 

 lage where there was a large circular pit. There are 11 extensive 

 village sites in that district, and each of them is characterized by a 

 similar pit. Such pits are a feature peculiar to the area, and their 

 real purpose is in question. In an effort to determine their original 

 function, one of the pits was excavated. It was found to have had 

 an original diameter of 65 feet and a depth of 10 feet. The dirt from 

 the original digging had been piled around the periphery, forming 

 a rim with a diameter of 90 feet from crest to crest. The floor was 

 slightly concave and there was nothing to indicate that any type of 

 structure had been erected over it. A burial area was found along the 

 east rim of the pit and on the inner slope at the south side there was 

 a grave containing the skeleton of a wolf. The animal had been 

 intentionally interred and must either have been a village pet or have 

 had some totemic significance. Until more detailed studies have been 

 made of the data obtained during the investigations it is not possible 

 to tell whether the burial area was an integral part of the pit feature 

 or was incidental to it. It is clear, however, that the pit correlates 

 with the earliest period of the village and that it remained in use 

 throughout the occupation of the site. There is no question that the 

 village andedates any European influence in the area and potsherds 

 found there suggest that its age probably falls within the period 

 A. D. 1200 to 1500. An interesting fact about the potsherds is that 

 all represent trade wares. Apparently there was no local ceramic 

 industry. 



